puma0504

My career requires me to travel quite a bit and it makes me wonder why Acura is only sold in the US ( and Canada I think.) When ever I go to Europe or asia, no body has ever heard of acura. Then I tell them its made by honda, they go "oh, honda." It's really interesting. I see a lot of lexus' in other countries and they all know its made by toyota but it still gets a lot of prestege and respect.
I am a pretty big tsx fanboy and even though I know Acura has a long way to go to match Lexus in terms of overall quality, I still think acura would make a KILLING selling there cars internationally. Furthermore, I think the acura brand could actually help the honda brand just like how lexus helps toyota internationally. Acura's target comsumers seem to be entry level luxury buyers which lexus hasn't really been able to reach. You guys are the experts. Why is such a high quality brand like acura only sold here?
peace

04 Acura Tsx NHB/black interior/non-navi
17"A-SPECS wheels

nahooneyya

im sure its sold in australia too....

i think they get the MDX~ correct me if im wrong though~ heh~

Fossil_TL

they have Acura in Canada.

bowersan

Fellow Acura-ites,

Acutally, Acura is sold only in two markets around the world- in that of the United States and Canada. Interestingly, I remember a document posted pre-TSX launch indicating that they had started preparations to set up a Mexican branch. You can thank NAFTA for that.

As for the last little tidbit, there is only one other market where Acuras are imported and sold... Currently, i'm studying abroad in this little economic 'Special Administrative Region' where capital reigns supreme and if somebody wants something, somebody gets it. That's right- Acura's can be seen here, with RHD, in Hong Kong. Need proof? Just ask!

Jeff

BTW-Nice to see you guys again, I may not post often, but I'm usually here skulking around...

bowersan

Fellow Acura-ites,

Acutally, Acura is sold only in two markets around the world- the United States and Canada. Interestingly, I remember a document posted pre-TSX launch indicating that they had started preparations to set up a Mexican branch. You can all thank our friend NAFTA for that.

As for the last little tidbit, there is only one other market where Acuras are imported and sold... Currently, i'm studying abroad in this little economic 'Special Administrative Region' where capital reigns supreme and if somebody wants something, somebody gets it. That's right- Acuras can be seen here, with RHD, in Hong Kong. Need proof? Just ask!

Jeff

BTW-Nice to see you guys again, I may not post often, but I'm usually here skulking around...

Matell

Yeha we get the MDX, but it's badged as a Honda

Whiskers

Canada is part of North America....

You can get a Honda Accord Wagon in Europe which is very cool.

ashran2

well we get honda cars here in europe no one heard of acura here...

but we get some cars that u dont get over there...

like honda civic nad also type r



honda accord tourer


honda jazz



honda stream



but ofcourse many are common...
and many still there are some cars which u get in usa we never get here... like acura tl and other cars which i think that people will like but we never get them here.

lcrazyaznl

iTrader: (1)

Yea when I visited Taiwan a few years back my uncle and grandpa wanted to purchase the Honda oddssey also after seing ours, but they would have to spend 28,000 for the car and another 20 or 40 thounsand to ship it, becasue honda dealers there only carry certain model, and a van that size would not fit well in the small streets of Tapiei.

Its same with japan they have their own honda cars made compared to the american models.

I'm personally thinking us americans are just bigger vendors in drivers, to hear that China is almost reaching 1 billion that drives...

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

Acura is only sold in North America primarily because of America's image obsessed society that values so-called "luxury" brands. The brand image is often more important to the average American car buyer than the actual qualities of the car itself. In other markets, people seem to be less into the brand image and more about the car.

Acura and Infiniti both only exist in North America. Lexus has only recently expanded out of the North American market into the Japanese home market, which might be a trend that we'll see from Nissan and Honda.

SSN_FT1(SS/DV)

As a business student....I agree 100%. Acura fills the "implied need" that all Americans strive for a luxury brand of car. I call it "Jonesing". Gotta keep up with the Jones'.

Whiskers

I guess we are all obsessed then....

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

Speak for yourself. I got the car because I actually liked the combination of sporty handling, interior and exterior design, and I got a great deal.

vger105

I recall a number of years ago when the Buick "Roadmaster" name was revived. The fact that the car itself was nothing more than a rebadged, retrimmed Chevy Caprice seemed to elude many people; it was, after all, a Buick ROADMASTER.
Maybe the Acura name, as well as the Lexus and Infiniti names, buy into the notion that the most visible reflection of our stations in life are the cars we drive. Not many people notice the wallets we carry, or the watches we wear, but they sure do notice our cars.
I wonder if this is true all over the world.

biker

This list was recently printed in Automobile magazine. It is a survey of German car owners by the ADAC, which is the equivalent of the AAA.

Brand Image Ranking:
1. Mercedes-Benz
2. BMW
3. Audi
4. VW
5. Porsche
6. Volvo
7. Opel
8. Jaguar
9. Renault
10. Toyota
11. Ford
12. Alfa-Romeo
13. Peugeot
14. Mazda
15. Skoda
16. Smart
17. Saab
18. Citroën
19. Honda
20. Chrysler
21. Nissan
22. Mitsubishi
23. Fiat
24. Seat
25. Land Rover
26. Hyundai
27. Kia
28. Daewoo
29. Lancia
30. MG-Rover
31. Subaru
32. Daihatsu
33. Suzuki


Customer Satisfaction:
1. Toyota
2. Subaru
3. Honda
4. Mazda
5. Nissan
6. Mitsubishi
7. Suzuki
8. Porsche
9. Saab
10. Hyundai
11. BMW
12. Daihatsu
13. Volvo
14. Jaguar
15. Citroën
16. Kia
17. Skoda
18. Lancia
19. Daewoo
20. Peugeot
21. Ford
22. Seat
23. Renault
24. Alfa-Romeo
25. MG-Rover
26. Audi
27. Opel
28. Chrysler
29. Smart
30. Fiat
31. VW
32. Mercedes-Benz
33. Land Rover

LoveMyTL-S

Being retired Navy I've been all over the world and have seen many luxury cars out there. Mostly the European models, but the peeps with money buy the nice cars. That includes places like Japan, (which btw doesn't export all their models. They save some nice ones for themselves such as the President and Nissan Fairlady Z), Hong Kong, Korea, Bahrain, Maylasia, Tailand, Oman, UAE, Australia, Singpore, Phillippines, Panama, Spain, Germany, Italy, Greece, Puerto Rico, Guam, Gibraltar and Kenya.

JonDeutsch

Acura is a brand, not an auto manufacturer. Americans are so wealthy and status hungry that we are attracted to brands that make us feel special. Good brands not only make us feel special, but represent a certain value that cannot be attained by a more 'generic' brand.

In the case of Acura, the brand is a combination of Honda manufacturing and technology, combined with special "Acura" interior and exterior technology and design appointments and "Acura" warranty and service upgrades.

So, Acura is a special, more luxurious and sporty "wrapper" of Honda core products and engineering.

This type of branding/marketing is standard fare throughout our lives. We look for brands that represent something that we find attractive. If we didn't, then all we'd buy is store branded stuff.

Dell is a not a horrible example/analogy. Dell doesn't really engineer anything (just like Acura). But Dell makes something a "Dell" by wrapping it into a package that makes it recognizable as "Dell" and combines this with a certain level of service, support, and quality that represents Dell -- vs. the Taiwanese engineers and production staff who actually make the core components. Dell puts it all together into packages that people want.

Acura packages Honda components and adds additional flourishes (technical, style, and performance) to increase its value to customers like us who want more than a Honda Accord, but don't want a BMW or Mercedes with all their quality and image baggage.

Jon

bowersan

Check this out...

http://www.acura.com.hk/

oh, and if you want to feel good about your purchase- go to www.xe.com and do the price conversion. Thats right you whiney americans- you are getting the DEALS OF THE MILLENIUM ON YOUR CARS compared to Hong Kongers.

Back to work!
Jeff

JonDeutsch

Odd choice of cars to offer in AcuraHK... (RSX and old RL)

bowersan

Re: my above message.

Incase you were interested but too lazy to check it out for yourself:

Acura 3.2 TL Type-S (old school model)
Price HKD 299,000.00
= $38,349.31 USD
= $46,243.52 CAD

Acura RSX
Price HKD $229,800
= $29,473.82 USD
= $35,541.00 CAD

Acura 3.5 RL (old school model)
Price HKD 459,880.00
= $58,983.55 USD
= $71,125.31 CAD

This isnt to mention the luxury tax that is imposed for owning a car in Hong Kong.

Oh ya, did i mention gas costs $5.62 a gallon?

Jeff.

Jim Holloman

Is there a car that is the equivalent of the Acura TL and the Acura RL sold in Europe?

If so, what are they known as there?

MSZ

Well, they never update their website in HK.

NSX was discontinued in HK since 95. They aren't going to import the new Legend(RL) and TL either. RSX is the only new model they are offering in HK right now.(And the 160hp base model is the only choice.)

MSZ

TL is North America exclusive model. RL = Honda Legend.

VeniceBeachTSX

The US is pretty unique in that we tend to associate prestige with particular brand names rather than with particular products. In Europe, Mercedes has no problem with selling all variety of non-luxury vehicles including little runabouts, heavy trucks and buses. It doesn't impact anybody's impression of the large S class as prestige vehicles. BMW is much the same, we don't get anything approaching their low end vehicles for Europe. Not so much because they couldn't sell them, but because they don't want to "dilute the brand" with non-prestige products.

The US has a particular brand consciousness that doesn't seem to exist in most other places and as a result we have all sorts of US-specific brands that don't exist anywhere else. Doesn't matter whether it's cars or appliances or clothing, in general we tend to get 2-3 different brand names from the same manaufacturer where Europeans will get one.

Powered by Honda

I wish Acura didnt exist. and all Acuras would be what they are supposed to be Hondas. Like in Japan!

Thats why if I ever buy an Acura....it will be debadged and turned into a Honda within a week.

matelot

you must be in vcbc

elduderino

Similar question can be asked of BMW and Mercedes... in the EU they are much wider brands, with BMW and Mercedes both selling lower end cars and Mercedes selling lots of industrial trucks. But the one time that BMW tried to go downmarket with the 318 hatch, it was a disaster in the US, and Mercedes has relabeled their panel van with the Freightliner brand and the Sprinter name in the US so that they don't dilute the US perception of Mercedes.

The US is the most surface-oriented market in the world.

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

We're one of (if not) the shallowest society in the world.

JonDeutsch

Watch out for the Chinese. They may give us a run for our money in market/brand shallowness...

Whiskers

You would have gotten a better deal on an Accord.....

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

I also would have gotten sloppier handling, a trade-off that is unacceptable to me.

Whiskers

So maybe a luxury brand means more then just being a name......hmmmmm....

ric

So, would folks have purchased a TSX that was exactly the same (including the exterior and interior style cues that differentiate the TSX from the Honda Euro sports sedan....) as what we have purchased save it had an H on the front and rear vs the A and it was purchased from a Honda Dealer?

jlukja

Absolutely, I didn't shop the brand, I shopped the value.

ric

they are, actually, different cars. Having test drove the Accord, I can guarantee that the handling was not a decent tradeoff for a V6 with more power. Cost roughly the same? yep. Perhaps the queston is whether the TSX would have attracted attention at a Honda dealership.....

ric

so you bought the car, not the name. So did I. Wonder if we are in the majority or the minority................

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

Absolutely.

jlukja

Our poor Canadian friends not only get the rebadged Honda Accord as the Acura TSX like we do but they get a Honda Civic rebadged as an Acura EL.

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

Minority. Most people couldn't tell the difference driving an Accord and a TSX. To them, it's just transportation. Most of those people also don't frequent this board.

dom

I wish it was. I could live without some of the frills Acura throws in.